FIFA 21 coins: make millions in Ultimate Team using Bronze packs and TOTW cards

FIFA 21
(Image credit: EA)

Need FIFA 21 coins in order to build your endgame squad? You've come to the right place. FIFA 21 makes it super straightforward to rack up currency using a mix of 'bronze pack method', Squad Building Challenges, and shrewd transfer market use – without ever having to get your wallet out and purchase FIFA Points. (So please, please don't.) I ended FIFA 20 with TOTS Alisson, Shapeshifters Messi, and TOTW de Bruyne – and using GR’s FIFA 21 coins guide you can now do the same. 

FIFA 21 coins guide rule 1: Never buy gold packs

(Image credit: EA)

Gold packs are so very easy to come by in FIFA 21. You get them for completing SBCs, for seasonal objectives, and in your rewards for Squad Battles, Division Rivals and FUT Champions. In other words, the transfer market is constantly saturated with gold cards. What that means is that it’s nigh-on impossible to get a return for your money on a 5,000-coin basic gold pack. Whereas bronze and silver packs are significantly cheaper, and guarantee you profit over the long-haul – as cards of those types are harder to come by than gold ones, yet still frequently required for SBCs.

FIFA 21 coins guide rule 2: Sell cards when at their most valuable

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SBCs see you submitting teams according to specific requirements in order to earn rewards. This, rather than spending coins, is how you should approach scoring gold packs. Below this method is explained in further detail, and it essentially comes down to this: only ever buy bronze packs, silver packs, and discard in-forms, and enjoy the rewards that follow. As your coin balance builds you can then buy the specific players you want, rather than taking the needle-in-a-haystack approach of hoping (and failing) to pack them.

FIFA 21 coins guide rule 3: Only buy bronze and silver packs

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This is a natural extension of rule 1. So, stick to bronze and silver packs, and when you do purchase one it's safest to go for the standard versions: 400 for bronze, 2,500 coins for silver.

If you're feeling especially flush you can gamble on the premium versions of these packs: 750 for bronze, 3,750 for silver. I often take a punt on the 750-coins bronze pack, but won’t touch the silver one unless I’ve 50K or more stashed. The reason being premium packs carry a much higher risk but also a higher reward: you're paying the extra money for two additional 'rare' cards. If those rare cards are players, you make even bigger profits; if they're kits or badges, you'll take a small hit.

If at any time your in-game funds are less than 20,000 coins, I recommend sticking to bronze packs rather than silver. 400 coins can be made back in a single match, and you see a swifter return on the cards you place on the market. Longer-term, with more in-game currency to spare, you can afford to mix the two equally.

FIFA 21 coins guide rule 4: Decide if you’re going to do the league SBCs

FIFA 21 SBC

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Throughout the season EA releases a selection of league-based Squad Building Challenges. By completing one team you unlock a specific pack, and by completing all the teams you unlock an overall group reward. 

The Premier League (ENG 1), Bundesliga (GER 1), Ligue 1 (FRA 1), Serie A TIM (ITA 1), La Liga (ESP 1), Saudi Professional League (SAU 1), MLS (MLS), EFL Championship (ENG 2), Pro League (BEL 1), Super Lig (TUR 1), Eredivisie (NED 1), Liga BBVA MX (MEX) 1) and CSL (CHN 1) are the current league SBCs in FIFA 21. The Conmebol Libertadores (LIB) and Conmebol Sudamericana (SUD) competitions have group SBCs too. So any silver or bronze players you pack from these competitions have immediate resale value.

As the season progresses, you need to decide which to complete for the overall rewards. Once you have nine-or-more players for any of those teams, buy the last couple of players needed – Futbin is an excellent resource to help you fill in gaps – at the lowest BIN price and get it completed. That earns you a new pack and takes you a step closer to the overall reward for that league.

FIFA 21 coins guide rule 5: Invest in discard-price Gold in-form cards

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Once you pass the 50,000-coins mark, I recommend investing in 3-4 TOTW players between Wednesday and Saturday of any given week. To do this, search for ‘Special’ players on the transfer market at a Buy It Now price of 10,250-11,500, then take your pick from any TOTW players rated 81 or above. You can *always* resell these players for at least 13,000 coins, sometimes much more – or, if you suddenly need funds, quick-sell them to the CPU for around 10K, meaning any losses are tiny.

For instance, when TOTW 1 came out I purchased TOTW Jose Fonte, rated 82, for 10,500 coins. One week later his value had already ascended to 15,000, and in mid-December it sits at 18,500 – almost doubling my investment, should I choose to sell.

As a general rule I stash TOTW purchases in my club for a fortnight, then list for at least 14,000 BIN – sometimes much more, depending on comparative prices for the same card.

FIFA 21 coins guide rule 6: Check for ‘Live’ SBCs every Thursday night

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This is the key to maximising the value of all players stashed in your club. You can do it more than once a week if you like, but Thursday evenings are often best, as they’re the time when ‘Marquee Matchups’ – a regular set of four new SBCs, relative to upcoming real-life matches – go live.

What you want to do is look at the parameters required for each Live challenge, and then transfer list any players in your club which are required and/or useful for them. For instance, an early season Marquee Matchup SBC pertained to Club Brugge vs Anderlecht. It required three Belgium players, and as a result prices for all Belgians went up, as did those for any players across the A1 Pro League (BEL 1) – as acquiring players from that league was the easiest way to complete the SBC.

Cycle through each Live SBC, then list all such cards at a price 100-200 coins higher than the lowest BN price. Bronze cards needed for these challenges often go for more than 1,000 coins – a huge increase on the 400 coins you originally spent to find them in a bronze pack.

FIFA 21 coins guide rule 6: Opening a silver pack

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First, look for players assigned to ENG 1, ENG 2, GER 1, FRA 1, ITA 1, ESP 1, SAU 1, MLS, BEL 1, TUR 1, NED 1, MEX 1, CHN 1, SUD or LIB. If you're planning to do those League SBCs, send them to your club. If not, send them straight to the transfer list.

Players from all other leagues should be stashed in your club until an SBC comes up that requires them – see point 5, and remember to check every Thursday. Important: Never quick sell any player card.

Send all Duplicate players to the transfer list.

Send all Healing (team and player) cards to the transfer list.

List shiny Manager Contracts cards for one hour at 150/200.

Send standard Manager Contracts cards to your club. *These are the only Manager Contracts cards I ever use.*

List standard Player Contracts cards (’10/10/8’) for one hour at 150/200.

List shiny Player Contracts (’20/24/18’) for one hour at 150/200.

Place all Kit, Badge, Celebration, Manager, Stadium, Theme and Tifo cards on the transfer list.

Unless you want them, quick sell all Balls.

Now go to your transfer list and cycle through all the cards you just moved there. Click ‘compare price’ and if there are a ton of the same card on the market at 150/200, also list at 150/200.

For cards listed at higher prices than 150/200, take note of the lowest Buy Now price available, then list yours for a Buy Now price of 200-300 coins more. Let’s say we’re looking to sell WBA defender Dara O’Shea, who I’ve just packed in the screenshot above. His lowest-priced card on the market costs 750 coins. So I list mine at a Buy Now of 1,000, with an auction start price of 50 coins less, so 950. The card may not sell at the first attempt. But it should do within 24-48 hours. If at that point it’s still not sold, I drop the price by 100 coins.

Always list cards for one hour. The key to this method is keeping your list full, and refreshed, as often as possible.

FIFA 21 coins guide rule 7: opening a bronze pack

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Again, look for players from ENG 1, ENG 2, GER 1, FRA 1, ITA 1, ESP 1, SAU 1, MLS, BEL 1, TUR 1, NED 1, MEX 1, CHN 1, SUD or LIB. If you're planning to do those League SBCs, send them to your club. If not, send them straight to the transfer list.

Once more, players from all other leagues should be stashed in your club until an SBC comes up that requires them. Remember, never quick sell any player card.

Send all Duplicate players to the transfer list.

Send all Healing (team and player) cards to the transfer list.

Send shiny bronze Player Contracts cards (’15/6/3’) to your club. *These are the only Player Contract cards I ever use!*

Quick sell all standard Player Contracts cards, and both shiny and non-shiny Manager Contracts cards.

Place all Manager and Stadium cards on the transfer list.

Place all shiny Kit badges on the transfer list.

Quick sell all standard Kit cards, plus all Badge, Ball, Celebration, Theme and Tifo cards.

Now go to your transfer list and do the same as you did for silver cards on there. Many cards will only go for 150/200, but you only need to sell an average of three per pack to make a profit.

FIFA 21 coins guide rule 8: a quick flip for a quick buck

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Bronze and silver packs require a degree of patience to pay dividends: the idea behind the method is to generate coins across the coming year, rather than score instant profit. If that’s what you’re looking for, try this instead: pick a popular league that isn’t one of the big five, such as the EFL Championship (ENG 2), and mass bid on silver player cards to a maximum value of 200 coins for standard cards, or 300 for shinies.

You can bid on a maximum of 50 cards at any one time. Any that you win can then immediately be ‘flipped’ back onto the transfer market, at a minimum value of 500 coins, and often closer to 800. Like with rules 7 and 8, be sure to compare current prices of the same card before listing. I flip 20-or-so cards per day in this way just to keep my coin balance flowing.

FIFA 21 coins guide rule 9: 're-list all' as often possible

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Re-list all as often as you can. If any non-player items listed at 150/200 aren’t shifting after 48 hours, quick sell them. Don’t apply that rule to players: even at 150/200 they always sell eventually. For all other items, such as rare silver Kits, consider dropping the Buy Now price by 50 coins after day one, 100 by day two, and so on. Don’t forget to play the odd match or two, too – if you’re going to save for van Dijk or Messi, you might as well try to enjoy the actual on-pitch action occasionally in the meantime.

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Ben Wilson

I'm GamesRadar's sports editor, and obsessed with NFL, WWE, MLB, AEW, and occasionally things that don't have a three-letter acronym – such as Chvrches, Bill Bryson, and Streets Of Rage 4. (All the Streets Of Rage games, actually.) Even after three decades I still have a soft spot for Euro Boss on the Amstrad CPC 464+.